Regenerative system, including revolving checkerwork elements



Nov. 15, 1955 H. J. CLARK REGENERATIVE SYSTEM INCLUDING REVOLVING CHECKERWORK ELEMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 22. 1951 I IE-- Nov. 15, 1955 H. J. CLARK 2,723,843 REGENERATIVE SYSTEM, INCLUDING REVOLVING CHECKERWORK ELEMENTS Filed Oct. 22. 1951 2 Sheets-SheetZ i@ man@ United States Patent() REGENERATIV E SYSTEM, INCLUDING REVOLV- ING CHECKERWORK ELEMENTS Harden J. Clark, Webster, Pa.

Application October 22, 1951, Serial No. 252,490

6 Claims. (Cl. 263-51) The present invention relates to regenerative systems and more particularly to revolving checkerworks for such systems.

It is an object of my invention to prevent clogging of the checkerworks in the chamber of a regenerative system by providing staggered tiers of revolving checker tiles therein.

Another object of my invention is to eliminate the necessity of manual cleaning as well as increase the life and eiciency of the checkers in the chamber of a regenerative system by constructing said checkers of revolving cylindrical checker tiles.

The nature of the invention and its distinguishing features and advantages will be fully apparent from the following detailed disclosure and the appended claims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of an open hearth regenerator having the checkerwork of my invention;

Figure 2 is an end view looking toward the left of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view, partly in longitudinal section, of a portion of the revolving checkers shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end view looking toward the left of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a shaft of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates the regenerative chamber of a regenerative system for use in connection with an open hearth furnace 4. The chamber 2 is built in a conventional manner with a forward wall or bulkhead 6, arear wall 8 and a roof 10. A vertical wall 12 is provided within the chamber intermediate the forward and rearward walls for a purpose which will become apparent as the description proceeds. The space between the rear wall and the intermediate wall, and the lower portion of the area between the forward wall and the intermediate Wall is filled with conventional iiXed rectangular brick checkerwork 14. The upper portion of the area between the intermediate wall and the forward wall is filled with the revolving checkerwork of my invention which will now be described in detail.

The revolving checkerwork consists of a plurality of elongated cylindrical refractory tiles or elements 16 which are arranged in staggered horizontal tiers extending between the intermediate wall 12 and the forward wall 6. The revolving checker tiles each consist of a plurality of refractory sleeves 18 assembled on a steel shaft 20. The rear end 22 of each of the steel shafts 20 is encased in a refractory cap 24 which may be pinned to the shaft. The cap 24 is rotatably supported in bearings 26 in the intermediate wall 12. A cast iron saddle plate 28 may be provided in each of the bearings 26 to serve as a rein- 2 forced bearing support for the capped end of the revolving tile 16.

The forward ends 30 of the shafts 20v pass through and are rotatably supportedby refractory sleeves 32 which are xedly mounted in the forward wall 6 to project outwardly therefrom. Cast iron or steel bearing bars 34 may be provided on the exterior side of the forward wall 6 subjacent each tier of projecting shaft ends 30 to support the same and thus remove most of the weight of the shafts from the sleeves 32. The portion of each of the shafts extending between the forward wall 6 and the intermediate wall 12 is square while the portion passing through and projecting fromthe forward wall 6 is round in cross section.

A sprocket wheel 36 is afxed to the projecting end of each of the shafts 20. The staggered relation of the sprocket wheels 36, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, makes it possible to rotate shafts 20 by a sprocket drive chain 38 which is driven by means of a sprocket wheel 40 attached to the shaft of a motor-driven gear reducer, not shown. As shown, one sprocket drive chain is used to rotate two tiers of the revolving checker tiles. The checker tiles may be made to revolve in a slow continuous manner during the campaign of the furnace or may be revolved intermittently with the reversal of the furnace as desired. The individually rotated checker tiles may be made to all revolve in the same direction or they may be made to revolve alternately in opposite directions, either individually or by rows. Regardless of the direction, the rotation of the individual tiles causes the ue dust, which collects in the checker chamber, to free itself by gravity from the revolving refractory sleeves and fall to the bottom of the checker chamber from where it can be periodically removed during the campaign of the furnace.

It is common knowledge with those well versed in the art that the upper forward courses or sections of the checkerwork of the regenerator are more susceptible to becoming clogged or closed by ue dust than are the lower courses or portions. For this reason I have shown only the upper forward portion of the regenerator equipped with the revolving checkerwork of my invention. It will be noted that if desired the entire checkerwork within the regenerator may be constructed according to my invention.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A regenerative system comprising a regenerative chamber having a forward and rearward wall, a vertical wall disposed in said chamber intermediate said forward and rearward walls, a revolving checkerwork disposed between said intermediate wall and said forward wall, said revolving checkerwork including a plurality of elongated cylindrical refractory tiles arranged in staggered horizontal tiers, each of said tiles having one end rotatably supported in said intermediate wall and the other end supported in said forward wall, and means for rotating said cylindrical tiles.

2. A regenerative system as defined in claim l characterized by said refractory tiles each including a metal shaft rotatably supported at one end in said intermediate wall, the other end of said shaft being supported in and projecting outwardly from said forward wall, a plurality of refractory sleeves assembled in abutting relation on the portion of said shaft extending between said forward wall and said intermediate wall, and a refractory cap affixed to the end of said shaft supported in said intermediate wall.

3. A regenerative system comprising a regenerative chamber having a forward and rearward wall, a vertical wall disposed in said chamber intermediate said forward and rearward walls., a plurality other@ elongated Cylindrical refractory tiles arranged in staggered horizontal tiers in the upper portion ofthe area between said intermediate wall and said forward wall, a plurality of hearings in said intermediate wall for rotatably supporting one end of each of said tiles, a shaft fitted in the bore of each of said tiles and extending therefrom to pass through and project from said forward wall, a plurality of refractory sleeves fixedly mounted in said forward wall for rotatably supporting said shafts, and means for rotating said shafts to revolve said tiles.

4. A regenerative system as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for rotating said shafts comprises a sprocket wheel aixed to the projecting end of each of said shafts, 15

a sprocket drive chain operatively engaged with the sprocket wheels of each tier of shafts, and power means for driving said sprocket chain.

5. A regenerator system as defined in claim 4 characterized by each of said bearings in said intermediate wall having a metal saddle plate fitted therein for providing a reinforced bearing support for said one end of each of said elongated cylindrical tiles, and a bar mounted on the eX- terior of said forward wall subjacent each tier of projecting shafts for supporting the same.

6. A regenerative system comprising spaced refractory walls defining a regenerative chamber through which gases pass in a single direction at one time, a revolving checkerwork disposed within said chamber, said revolving checkerwork including a plurality of elongated cylindrical refractory tiles arranged in staggered horizontal tiers, each of said tiles having having one end rotatably supported in one of said walls and the other end rotatably supported in another of said walls, and means for rotating said cylindrical tiles.

References Cited inthe tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 857,285 Hughes June 18, 1907 1,498,875 Howard June 24, 1924 1,741,225 Dryssen Dec. 31, 1929 1,840,661 Fahrenwald Jan. 12, 1932 1,907,852 Miller May 9, 1933 2,039,833 Payne May 5, 1936 2,082,628 Hegel June 1, 1937 2,205,242 Davis et al. June 18, 1940 2,257,392 Milner Sept. 30, 1941 2,451,053 Anderson et al. Oct. 12, 1948 2,503,651 Alock Apr. 11, 1.950 

